Unheralded Ali Farag Wins Fitzwilliam Irish Open by Nathan Clarke April 27, 2015
- Unheralded Egyptian Ali Farag downed four seeds in a row to win the
GillenMarkets Irish Open – thus becoming the first unseeded player for
four years to win the long-established PSA World Tour event at
Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club in Dublin.
The 23-year-old from Cairo, ranked 73 in the world, made a sensational
breakthrough in the semi-finals of the PSA Challenger 15 squash event
when he upset top-seeded compatriot Mazen Hesham, ranked 43 places
higher, in four games.
Farag’s final opponent was Lucas Serme, the fifth seed from France who
followed his breakthrough upset over second-seeded Scot Alan Clyne in
the quarter-finals by beating Kiwi qualifier Paul Coll in the semis – a
win which took the 23-year-old Frenchman into his second successive
Tour final.
The match was a close-fought see-saw affair, with honours shared after
four games. Serme fought back from 3-8 down in the decider, but
in front of a vociferous Egyptian crowd it was Farag who held his nerve
and made his country proud to close out the match 11-8, 5-11, 11-3,
9-11, 11-9 after 81 minutes.
Farag became the first Egyptian winner of the men’s title since Tarek
Momen, also unseeded, in 2011 – when his fiancée Nour El Tayeb also won
the women’s trophy.
"It is so great playing in front of our Egyptian ambassador to Ireland
and all the Egyptians who came out to support me today,” said Farag,
who now boasts seven PSA World Tour titles, including three in
2015. “This title also means a lot because my fiancée won the
title here four years ago!"
